An NYPD sergeant and 19-year veteran of the force says that cops systematically downgraded and misclassified serious crimes in Queens' 100th Precinct to pad crime stats, then transferred him to a graveyard shift in retaliation. "I just couldn't take it anymore," Sergeant Robert Borrelli told ABC of the pressure to manipulate crime statistics. "There came a point I finally broke and I'm like, you know, this has to stop." more ›

The same Redditor claiming to be an NYPD officer who fielded questions about the department last month has returned for more civilian insight. "I want to know what goes on in your mind when asking the police for help, or when you are being stopped for a violation," NYPDRob writes. "What are some of the things you want to hear from a cop, but rarely do?" more ›

Brooklyn resident Kate Wilson was riding the D train home to Sunset Park around 1 a.m. one morning in February when several police officers entered her subway car at 36th street. The subway car was mostly empty, with plenty of empty seats, and Wilson was resting her right leg—which she had injured in a race that day—on a corner of one seat. What followed was an absurd yet all too familiar encounter with overzealous, quota-filling transit cops. In her own words, Wilson describes her outraged exchange with New York's Finest: more ›

The Brooklyn South narcotics detective accused of planting drugs on a woman and her boyfriend was found guilty yesterday. Jason Arbeeny, a 14-year NYPD veteran, was guilty of eight counts of falsifying records and official misconduct for planting drugs on innocent suspects in order to reach quotas. more ›

While people seem to be understandably interested in the violent arrests made by the NYPD during the Occupy Wall Street protests, lets not forget about the widespread practice of planting drugs on innocent suspects! "Flaking," as it's called, has reportedly cost the city $1.2 million to settle cases of false arrests. The Daily News reports that the settlements range from $15,000 to $300,000, not to mention the untold amounts of time and money wasted on prosecuting false cases. But hey, crime's down! more ›

With the ticket-fixing scandal burning through the NYPD already causing one officer to attempt suicide, prosecutors are starting to worry about the mental health of cops involved in the investigation—but the NYPD is likely going to resemble The Shield a lot more before things get any better. In addition to the ticket-fixing, many cops will be charged with more serious crimes that were revealed as a result of the probe: “I think people are going to be shocked by the seriousness of these crimes...[including] cops dealing with drug dealers and proceeds from drug sales. It’s going to be more like cops knowing where drug money is stashed and then taking the money,” one source told the Post. more ›

The current commanding officer at the World Trade Center has been accused by a fellow police sergeant of pressuring Bronx cops to make ticket quotas, and of routinely using racist language. In his lawsuit, Sgt. Christopher Groben has also accused Inspector Donald McHugh of ordering him to give negative performance evaluations to two "well-regarded" black sergeants when he was commander of the 41st Precinct in the Bronx between October 2008 and September 2010. more ›

Got the end-of-weekend blues? Well here's a cycling story that's sure to imbue you with enough self-righteousness and indignant rage to make you forget your troubles: a cyclist is complaining about receiving $1,500 in fines for running red lights. "It's absurd," pedicab driver Juan Rodriguez tells the Daily News, referring to his miserable luck in getting three red light tickets, despite the fact that 30 people probably ran a red light in NYC by the time you finish reading this sentence. "When you look at the fines leveled and the actual offenses, it makes no sense." more ›

It's the end of the month, which means it's time for the NYPD to get cracking on filling those ticket quotas which have been lying around all month. Can't just keep going after dead people, sometimes you gotta get them while they're still breathing! To that end, a reader wrote us that cops have been pulling over cars on the Williamsburg Bridge for the past two days to give tickets to people with tinted windshields. Read his account below: more ›

As Abraham Lincoln probably said: your best work is the work that you pretended to do for money. This maxim still rings true today thanks to NYPD officer Paul Pizzuto, who allegedly wrote 36 phony traffic tickets last year so he could claim overtime pay. According to the Post's sources the 17-year veteran would run random license plates for names to use on the tickets, and even used the names of the deceased. Authorities caught on because Pizzuto never sent copies to the DMV or the city's finance department, leaving them in legal limbo at the 120th Precinct. The 40-year-old cop is the third Staten Island officer to be caught writing fake tickets—two other officers were charged with the same crime in February. Pizzuto faces numerous felony charges for his crimes. more ›

After claiming to be fired for failing to meet the demands of "unrealistic and illegal quotas," a former police officer stationed in the Bronx will file a lawsuit again the NYPD for wrongful termination, the Daily News reports. Vanessa Hicks was initially stationed in the 40th precinct, and said she became a cop because she "wanted to do something to help my community, to make a difference." Didn't she know that the definition of "difference" is "20 summonses, one arrest" per month? more ›

Whether you call them "productivity goals" or "a list of things to do before the end of the month," there has been indisputable proof that the NYPD higher-ups widely encourage the use of quotas: there have been recordings of station meetings, there have been leaked documents, and there have been disgruntled officers threatening boycotts. But in case you weren't convinced before, a jury has now ruled that quotas are real, and they definitely motivate and affect NYPD cops' arrests: "It's a binding decision by a jury that nobody's appealing. Other lawyers can now argue convincingly that the issue of quotas has been decided," said lawyer Seth Harris. more ›

When in doubt, move them around: last month, officers from Brooklyn's 79th Precinct publicly griped about being forced to meet quotas, even threatening to boycott the summons to show their displeasure. Their supervisor, Deputy Chief Michael Marino, responded by putting on his best Clint Eastwood impression, and saying, "make my day." Now, according to the News, the NYPD has stepped in and decided to face the little insurgency head-on...by transferring Marino. more ›

Yesterday, the NYPD was sued by the NY Times for repeatedly delaying or denying their requests for information. But the analysis of the data which they do have can give you some idea why the NYPD might not want to let all that information fly free, especially in regards to stop and frisks: today, a Judge, and implicitly the paper, criticize the NYPD of unfairly manipulating Housing Authority rules in order to perform hundreds of thousands of unnecessary stop and frisks not in the spirit of the laws. more ›

Another week, another string of tickets for something most people didn't even realize was illegal. Todays trouble? Those signs that restaurants put on the street with their specials and the like to try and entice you. Apparently the NYPD is now cracking down on restaurants who are letting their signs go more than three feet into the street. The fine? $100. And you know who we bet they are going for next? Marlo Scott of the West Village cupcakery Sweet Revenge. She told the post that though he got "fined once for having our sign outside," he still puts his sign out everyday. "You just pray that you don't get a ticket." And you know what doesn't help get those prayers answered? Blabbing about it in the paper. We hope she pulled her sign in close today. more ›

This weekend, officers from Brooklyn's 79th Precinct publicly griped about being forced to meet quotas, which NYPD management still refuses to acknowledge exist, despite mounting evidence. The officers are even considering a day-long summons boycott to express their disdain. But at roll call on Monday, they were given a threatening wake-up call by quotas-enthusiast Deputy Chief Michael Marino: "Just try it. I'll come down here and make sure you write them." more ›

The Bloomberg administration and NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly have continually shrugged off any concerns about police quotas, referring to them as "productivity goals," among other things. This comes despite the fact that the existence of them has been proven again and again, thanks to the efforts of officers such as Adrian Schoolcraft. But now, even more police officers have become fed-up with the double-speech: "We've talked about it. Nobody feels this is right, asking us to write summonses just to meet a quota," one police source connected with the 79th Precinct in Bedford-Stuyvesant told the News. more ›

Yesterday NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly shrugged off calls for an investigation into the NYPD's ticket quotas, telling reporters, he didn't "see any problem" with two 77th Precinct memos obtained by the Daily News that itemized how many moving violations officers need to hand out in a week. "We have productivity goals, just like your job does, just like any job does," Kelly said yesterday. In light of that, today ABC 7 points us to an incident that was caught on tape last month in Crown Heights, when three men conversing outside a residence at 10 p.m. were stopped by what appear to be rookie cops, ordered to disperse, and then issued summonses for blocking pedestrian traffic. more ›

The NYPD and police unions are shocked, shocked to find that ticket quotas are being sought at Brooklyn's 77th Precinct, as the Daily News presented them with memos that were posted for weeks in the station's call room, "Two notices obtained by the Daily News clearly spell out how many moving-violation summonses cops should be handing out" in the "crime-ridden 77th Precinct, which covers Crown Heights and Prospect Heights." The News published two memos—one from April, one from October—that tell cops to be sure to issue tickets to drivers with infractions involving cell phones, double parking, bus stops, seat belts, handicap spots, tinted windows, and more. more ›

Five NYPD officers from Brooklyn's 81st precinct are facing departmental charges of manipulating crime stats. Among them is Deputy Inspector Steven Mauriello, the former commanding officer of Bedford-Stuyvesant's 81st precinct, and one of the major figures in the stat manipulation lawsuit brought about by Officer Adrian Schoolcraft this year. more ›

In a letter to Gov. Paterson, asking him to kill a measure that would make it illegal for cops to set quotas for summonses, arrests and stop-and-frisks, Mayor Bloomberg wrote: "For an employee whose function it is to issue parking tickets, a measurement clearly relevant to job performance is the number of summonses issued over the course of a reasonable period of time." (Of, course, the Mayor doesn't call 'em quotas in the letter, but we all know what he means!) more ›

Officer Adrian Schoolcraft, formerly of Brooklyn's 81st precinct, has become a major thorn in the NYPDs side ever since he lobbed accusations that commanding officers have been massively under-reporting crime stats in the throes of quota-lust. He's suing the NYPD for $50 million, for throwing him in a psych ward unwillingly and suspending him from duty. But in a new interview with the Daily News, he makes it clear that it's not about the money: "There's not enough money in the state to get me to settle this suit. It's going to trial and there's no way around that—the truth has to come out." more ›